Anna Bello is a junior human nutrition major with a minor in peace, justice,and conflict resolution. She won the Gilman Study Abroad Award, which she planned to use to supplement her Spring 2015 semester in Greece.
Alanna Brooks is a Biology major with a minor in Spanish. She is a member of the Culture Club, Club Med, and a STEM scholar student. Alanna enjoys working with animals and plans on going to vet school after college in order to obtain a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. Thanks to the Gilman Scholarship, she studied abroad in Costa Rica in the Spring semester of 2015 , where she took Spanish courses and science courses as well as studied different species of animals. This experience will greatly help Alanna to improve not only her communication and social skills, but will also allow her to explore a different country with a rich diversity.
Rachel Burns is a senior English major with minors in International Studies and History. She studied abroad at Kingston University in London during the spring 2015 semester and attended a creative writing program there in the summer. Rachel plans to teach English abroad for a few years after she graduates before beginning work on a MFA in Creative Writing. She applied for the Sigma Tau Delta Junior Scholarship, Study Abroad Scholarship, and Summer Program Scholarship and was awarded $3,000 through the Study Abroad Scholarship.
Ashley Renee Causey is a senior special education major. She is a McNair Scholar and applied for the Truman Scholarship and the Elie Wiesel Ethics Essay Contest. Her essay on issues of race and equity in the classroom made it to the semi-final round for the Elie Wiesel Ethics Essay Contest. In the future, Ashley plans to work as an educational equity coordinator. She hopes to work with districts to help improve and develop strategies that promote culturally relevant teaching.
Ian Deas, a biology major alum, served as student body president of Winthrop's Council of Student Leaders and as the student representative to the Winthrop Board of Trustees. In addition to his student government involvement, he was been active in community service while at the university. His list of community volunteer work includes Boyd Hill SCOPE, Brother's Keeper, Project Rebound, Rolling in Rock Hill, MLK Day of Service, Wounded Warrior Project, and reading to students at Ebenezer Elementary School. After graduation from Winthrop last spring, Ian plans to pursue a Ph.D. in pharmacology at Vanderbilt University, where he is interested in studying drug safety. After a career in research, he plans to teach at the college level to inspire a new generation of young scientists. Ian won the Sunbelt Rentals scholarship.
Jenn Fant is a sophomore French MAT5 major who applied for and won the Gilman Scholarship in order to go to France for the 2015-2016 academic year. She hopes that, through studying abroad, she will be able to speak fluently in her chosen language, see an improvement in her knowledge of another culture, and start to build a future in education of the French language. Later in life, she would like to use her study abroad experience to become a translator to fully delve into being bilingual.
Shivam Patel is a senior Theatre major with emphasis in Musical Theatre and a minor in Computer Science. He is studying abroad in the Fall of 2015 in England and plans to graduate Winthrop University with a Bachelors by next Spring. After undergraduate studies, Shivam plans to perform in regional and professional theatres while pursuing a Masters in Acting. Shivam is a Palmetto Fellow and Winthrop Fellow recipient, and Treasurer of the theatre honors society, Alpha Psi Omega. He applied for both the Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Grant and the Gilman Scholarship for study abroad and was awarded $5,000 from the latter award.
Luis Valle Burguete is a junior IMC and French major. Luis applied for and won the Benjamin Franklin Travel Grant, which will help to fund his study abroad during the Fall of 2015 at the American Business School Paris. Luis plans to move to NYC after graduation to pursue a career in advertising.
Faith Cooke is an Integrated Marketing Communications major minoring in Spanish. She is a recepiant of the Gilman Study Abroad Schoalrship and is currently abroad.
Emily Hockett is a Psychology and Spanish double major who plans to study mental disorders that commonly affect the elderly in a doctoral neuroscience program. Moreover, she wants to be able to communicate effectively with more individuals in her environment. She is a Close Scholar, Life Scholar, McNair Scholar, Ann Cato Corps Scholar, and Lois Rhame West Scholar. She is studying Spanish in Costa Rica in the fall of 2014; she is a winner of both the Gilman Study Abroad Scholarship and Phi Kappa Phi Study Abroad Scholarship.
Melanie Jones is a Fine Arts major and 2014 recipient of the Gilman Study Abroad Schoalrship. She is currently studying abroad.
Kyle McDaniel is a junior Biology and French double major. He applied for three nationally competitive
awards in the 2013-2014 academic year: the Gilman, Udall, and Goldwater scholarships.
He won the full amount granted by the Gilman Award and is currently studying abroad
in Madagascar, where he will develop field research skills that will complement his
research being conducted at Winthrop on meiofaunal food webs. Upon graduating, Kyle
plans to attend graduate school and get his Ph.D. in molecular ecology.
Alex Muller graduated in May 2014 with a B.A. in English, Creative Writing. Over the past few
years, Alex has served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Winthrop Literary and Arts Journal,
The Anthology, volunteered with the Arts in Medicine Club, and has been involved with
the Winthrop chapters of Sigma Tau Delta, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Kappa Phi honors
societies. During the summer of 2013, Alex traveled to France with the help of the
Geraldine Trammel Hurley Fellowship, where he spent time at the Bordeneuve Retreat
for Artists and Writers and worked on writing and compiling his original poetry for
an honors thesis collection. This year he applied for several nationally competitive
awards including the Jack Kent Cooke Award, the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics, various
Sigma Tau Delta Scholarships, and a Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship. He was recently recognized
as the winner of the Sigma Tau Delta Senior Scholarship, and his essay on Shakespeare's
King Lear won the Frederic Fadner Critical Essay Award for The Sigma Tau Delta Critical
Review. Alex is currently pursuing a graduate degree at Wake Forest, where he accepted
an offer for full funding.
Matthew Neal earned his BS in Mathematics from Winthrop in May of 2014. He has been involved in
research in the department since its first summer experience with several faculty
in mathematics and biology. As an undergraduate, Matthew planned to complete the undergraduate
program in teacher education but worked with Ms. Okey to explore ways to allow our
teaching fellows to pursue the MAT5 program. The winner of the Knowles Science Teaching
Foundation Fellowship, Matthew graduated a member of the Honors Program and started
the MAT5 in June 2014.
Jeanne Stroud graduated as an English Literature and Language Major from Charleston, SC. As a cross
country and track athlete, she had great success in her sport and in the classroom;
she was named the Big South Female Scholar Athlete of the Year for her sport five
times, and she also earned the honor of Female Outstanding Track Performer for her
2013 outdoor track season. Her years as an athlete led her to devote a lot of her
time to the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and its community service efforts.
She is also an active member of the Phi Kappa Phi and Omicron Delta Kappa honors societies.
Through ONCA, Jeanne applied for The Rhodes Scholarship, The Marshall Scholarship,
the Sigma Tau Delta Senior Scholarship, and the Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship. After graduating
in May 2014 she now attends the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where
she will earn her master's degree in Library Science.
Hannah Swan, a recent Winthrop graduate, was a math major after transferring from an art program her sophomore year. In her time at Winthrop, she was awarded the Rosalind Sallenger Richardson Senior Scholarship, Kate V. Wofford Scholarship, and Robert M. Ward scholarship. She applied for the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship and was awarded an Honorable Mention. In the fall of 2014, she began graduate school for applied mathematics and plans to continue conducting interdisciplinary research in the future.
Sigourney Woodfork graduated from Winthrop in December of 2013 with a degree in Integrated Marketing Communication which pertains to all things advertising, marketing, and public relations. In addition, she pursued a minor in French language, culture as well as international studies. She hopes to blend her marketing communications background and interest in foreign cultures to work with socially focused initiatives that help solve global issues. Since graduating she has begun working as a media coordinator at a boutique advertising agency in Charlotte, NC. Currently, she is a finalist for the Fulbright scholarship, which she applied for with the intention of spending a year in France researching the effectiveness of sexual health communications for minority groups in France. Sigourney is also the recipient of the Rotary Club International's Global Grant, which awarded her $30,000 to pursue both this project and her Master's at American University Paris in France.
Sharon Jenkins completed her undergraduate degree in Biology from Winthrop in May 2011 and started the traditional MAT in Biology the following fall. As an undergraduate Sharon was a peer mentor and worked in research with Dr. Grossoehme. Sharon is a WISE scholar and GA in CAS college office. Sharon will finish the MAT in December 2013. She won the Knowles Science Teaching Fellowship, which will support her professionally and financially for up to five years through a teacher preparation program to eligibility for tenure.
Allison Keller is a Theatre Major with a concentration in performance and a minor in Psychology. She is a first generation college student and is a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Alpha Lambda Delta, and Alpha Psi Omega. She plans to study abroad in England at Edge Hill University for her entire junior year. Her hope is that while in England she can learn styles of acting that are not offered in the United States. With those styles under her belt she will then come back to the U.S. and try to increase respect for and acceptance of these styles in the acting world here. Allison is a 2012 spring recipient of the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship.
Anna Ponds is a senior Family and Consumer Sciences major, with a concentration in Youth Issues and a minor in Spanish. She comes from a family of ten children, two of which have graduated from Winthrop University previously. She currently has a 3.89 GPA and will be graduating in May 2014. She is a two-year leader on the Ministry Team of the Reformed University Fellowship campus ministry at Winthrop. In addition, she is a lifetime member of the Alpha Lambda Delta Honors Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.In fall of 2012, she applied for and was awarded the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship for a spring 2013 semester abroad in Sevilla, Spain. She studied in Sevilla to not only complete most of her Spanish minor but also to learn to speak the Spanish language within the context of the culture and people there. After she graduates from Winthrop, she plans to pursue a Master's certification in Counseling from a theological seminary so she can work as a Certified Counselor with adolescent females, hopefully in a Spanish-speaking country.
Lakeisha Myers is a Sociology Major with a concentration in Criminology/Social Welfare and a GPA of 3.64. She received
a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship in the amount of $2500 to study abroad
at the American University in Cairo during the Fall 2010 semester to study Arabic.
After graduation, she hopes to have the opportunity to work in the United States Department of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, a Bureau whose main responsibility is to work on fostering peaceful relations between
the United States and other countries.
Chelsea Nelson is a Major in Mass Communication with a Concentration in Broadcasting and a Minor in International Area Studies. Chelsea
was awarded the Sharif Rahman Scholarship through the Foundation for International
Education (FIE) in the amount of $1000 to study abroad in Dublin during the Spring
2010 semester. While in Ireland, Chelsea was selected with one other scholarship winner
to produce, shoot, and edit a promotional video for FIE that will be distributed to
all participating schools as well as be shown on their website.
Chantelle Van Nostern is a Biology Major with a Chemistry Minor. She enjoys doing prostate cancer research in the Biology
Department and has been doing so for nearly two years. Chantelle received a Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship in the amount of $3500 to study abroad at the American University in Cairo during
the Fall 2010 semester to study Arabic. Her goals include becoming a doctor and traveling
the world, volunteering in medical facilities to help people in areas ravaged by war.
Please e-mail us if you are a student or faculty recipient of a Nationally Competitive Award.
